Sleeping patterns
by Zierra
Summary: How you are as a person, reflects in the way you sleep and not always in the most obvious ways. Irvine watches his friends one night and thinks on their sleeping habits.


This is a very, very short one-shot that I wrote in about twenty minutes when I went skiing last year. It's been hidden away in my notebook but I found it just recently and decided to type it down. I even added some extra flair by looking up different sleeping patterns and how our subconscious shows what kinds of personalities we have from the way we sleep. Very interesting!

I post this because I want to post something while I'm waiting for Magic of Valentine to finish itself. But a new chapter is coming soon! Oh, and I got Saiyuki Reload vol 3 today, happy, happy! It's just 17 days after I ordered it...

Please read and review!

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You learn a lot about peoples sleeping patterns when you spend so much time together as we do. 

One of us is always keeping watch and when it's my turn and nothing but darkness and silence around us, I spend my time watching them sleep, much like they probably watch me on their shifts.

Take Seifer for example. He must be the most arrogant and self-centred asshole out there - to anyone but us. Sure, he complains constantly about how annoying and stupid we are, but as soon as one of us is in trouble, he's there with the same tenacity as a lion. It freaks you out and flatters you at the same time.

So with that said you can probably understand my surprise the first night we spent camped in the woods and I see Seifer curled in a fetal position. Even those who've never read any psychology (and we've read a lot, I tell you) know that the fetal position indicates shyness and sensitivity. (1)

Go figure.

But he's a light sleeper. In my nocturnal boredom I've done some extensive research and the result is both amusing and troubling simultaneously. He has this sixth sense about people watching him. He has it when he's awake too but it's most obvious when he's asleep, or at least more fascinating. I don't know how many times I've stared at him only to have him rouse slightly, eyes cracking open just the slightest and then he falls back asleep. I don't do it too often though, because one night when I was set on testing my theory, he was barely able to stand upright the next morning.

§

Or Zell. First of all, when he sleeps with his head to the left and he covers the tattoo, he doesn't look a day over 6 years old. Even in the dark, when his thick blond hair only looks dusky grey or maybe orange if we dare have a fire lit and with his eyes closed, you wonder how someone so young and - dare I say? - cuddly could ever make SeeD? He sleeps on his tummy, with his hands up around his face (2) and has more often than not his fingers tangled in tousled silk. And after a little research around his sleeping habits as well, I've come to realize that he doesn't care _whose_ hair he's grabbing.

He's also unnaturally still. Don't get me wrong, he's bouncing from daybreak till sundown but after a few minutes of tossing from excess energy he settles down and remains unmoving throughout the night. Unless someone wakes him, but it takes short of a bullhorn so we don't do that very often.

§

Now, Squall is a rather interesting subject at any time a day, but even more so at night. With a demeanour so icy sleek and calm, you would suspect him to take up minimum amount of space. Or at least stay inside his sleeping bag.

But no.

Flat on his back, he is, one leg sticking out the side, one arm thrown carelessly next to his head (3). What the other arm and leg is doing I have no idea, but without the restriction of the sleeping bag, I have no doubt he'd be lying on the ground, like he was making snow angels.

He frowns, though, and that's the Squall I know. I've made a bet with Zell that he'll have wrinkles by the time he's thirty. Zell opted for twenty-two, but I think that's too soon, even for a notorious brooder like Squall.

Funny thing is, he's more approachable when he's asleep. When off in la-la-land he doesn't care if Selphie snuggles a little too close, or if Zell weaves his fingers through his hair. But the funniest thing is still that he talks in his sleep. Murmurs really, but you can make out words if you listen hard. On more than one occasion he's berated his daddy dearest for one silly thing after the other.

§

When talking about Rinoa's and Selphie's sleeping patterns, you have to mention them both together. Not that they sleep the same way, but they are so in sync with each other that if one of them wakes up, the other one is only a heartbeat behind.

Rinoa sleeps on her back, packed like a mummy in her sleeping bag, the zipper pulled all the way up (4). Selphie is on her right side, stretched languidly in hers. (5)

And while Rinoa is so silent I've been forced to go over to her to see if she's actually breathing, Selphie snores. It's not the power-saw snore that Cid has, but soft and even, that sometimes catches in her throat.

But positions aside, there are one more thing that separates Rinoa and Selphie when it comes to sleeping.

Where Selphie is exuberant from the moment she opens her eyes, Rinoa is the worst morning-person I've ever met. It takes her two hours after a hundred brushstrokes before she's back to normal. Seifer thinks it's some magical side effect.

§

And me? Well, I've never seen myself sleep and I'm not so sure I'd want to. But I wake up on my side, arms stretched in front of me, like I've been reaching for something (6). I don't think I move much, at least not according to Zell, but he's not exactly known to keep his focus for long. Selphie says I look innocent, as opposed to when I'm awake and Seifer says I kick, but I don't want to believe that, so I won't.

I wonder how I would react if one of these elements would go away? What if I one night, sitting here and shifting Exeter for one hand to the other, wouldn't hear Selphie snore? What if I can't hear Squall mutter sweet nothings into the night? Zell made me listen extra hard one time when he suddenly rolled over to his side, and a minute later a T-rexuar attacked us. Rinoa did the same when I suddenly heard her draw a shaky breath and without warning we were almost run over by a horde of Grats.

So I know I'll quiver in my boots the moment Seifer sits upright from his bed. Hyne, I hope that never happens.

_End_

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Oh, this is really short. Was it really this short when I wrote it? Ah well, I'll list the different positions and what they mean for you.

(1) Seifer - Well, I already wrote what that meant but I'll do it again: Crouched in the fetal position: Shy and sensitive

(2) Zell - Flat on the tummy with hands at the sides of the head: Brash and gregarious

(3) Squall - On the back with outstretched arms and legs: Unassuming and a good listener

(4) Rinoa - Soldier position flat on the back with arms at the sides: Quiet and reserved

(5) Selphie - On the side with legs outstretched and arms down: Social and easy-going

(6) Irvine - On the side with legs outstretched and arms outstretched: Suspicious

I've copied and pasted from an article I found on the subject: www(dot)maisonbisson(dot)com/blog/post/10182/. Very, very interesting reading. I've come to realize that I'm a mix between Position 1 (on my list here, order is different in the article) and Position 2. What the hell does that make me? Shy and brash or sensitive and gregarious?


End file.
